Author Note:
Sorry this one's short! But it's Christmas so I couldn't get out some huge long chapter!
End of Author Note!
Ozpin sat in his high tower office, sipping from a hot mug of coffee.
"Ozpin, is there something going on between yourself and Miss Aryle that you aren't telling me?" Glynda Goodwitch spoke furiously, pacing back and forth. "I've never known you to take such a personal interest in a student before - not so hands on - and certainly not a young woman! Not even with Team STRQ were you committing yourself to personal training sessions!"
Ozpin set his cup down, chuckling lightly. "Oh my - you'd really believe something like that of me?"
"I'm not sure what to think about you lately - or about her," Glynda replied, coming to a stop and crossing her arms. "Twice now, Miss Aryle has been targeted by Kari, and - according to what Miss Aryle told you about this second attack two weeks ago, herself - she's also been offered an invitation by the most ancient, most fearsome enemy of mankind, unimaginable to the common people of Remnant! An invitation for what? To join her?"
Ozpin sighed, giving a grave nod. "I believe so, yes. This is precisely how Salem operates: she finds those in need, those desperate, those vulnerable, those young and wounded and abused, and comes to them in most vulnerable moments to offer them everything they need, or crave. Whether it is power, greed, affection, love, a path to revenge...She will use anything to gain their fealty. And Cinder Aryle...is by far the most perfect candidate she could ever hope for - with the added bonus of seven years of combat training already mastered by her. Even with all the progress that Miss Aryle has made these past months...with her team, with us, and with herself...there is great danger in her regressing - and greater danger still, of Salem bringing her into her service. And I'm sorry to say that it would be almost too easy to convince Miss Aryle to join her."
"Do you think the girl would really accept?"
"I do. There are any number of reasons or arguments Salem could use to attack her with. Ones she would easily submit to. Ones she might allow herself to be swayed by, for her own selfish ends. Whether to keep her friends safe, whether to enable her to gain more power and freedom in her life than perceived available to her currently, or...whether to allow her to freely take vengeance upon her abusers. The family, and the government that perpetuated and permitted it all under legal law."
Glynda looked, for a moment, pitying of the girl that was the subject of the discussion. "But do you really believe she would just go off and kill...?"
"I believe she would already have, long ago, if not for the intervention of the huntsman in her life." Ozpin sighed. "And I believe, too, that if Salem were to offer her the power and the opportunity to finally return and get revenge on them, that Cinder would leave Beacon behind without much hesitation. And then, she would likely become lost to us entirely. You ask me what is going on between her and myself? You ask me why I've taken such an usually personal interest in her? It is because I refuse to lose her to Salem, the way I lost Kari before. I refuse to watch another promising young huntress fall victim to her own past and troubles, stolen and twisted by Salem. I want to see her rise above it all, and realize the potential she has in this world to the fullest! There is still a great deal of hope for Cinder, and I will not give up on her. I will not give her over to Salem."
"Speaking of Kari..." Glynda spoke, sharp and sad alike. "Besides attempting to seduce a young, troubled huntress, what else do you think she might be doing in Vale? Have you gleaned any new insight into her possible plans?"
"Well, if Salem has ordered her to begin depleting our huntsmen forces around the city - something that coincides with Kari's own desires for vengeance on us all - I believe something larger is being planned, yes. But just what it is, I couldn't say. For now, I'm afraid all we can do is watch...and wait. And in the meantime...we must all do our best to make sure Cinder is not compelled to leave us for Salem. Or, at very least, that if she does, it is for the best, most understandable of reasons: fear, coercion, the protection of her friends. I would rather see her be drawn into Salem's services for those reasons, as opposed to the darker impulses inside her. If I must lose her at all."
Glynda strode over to the window, gazing out at the Atlas airships making port. "Having James and his heavily armed Atlesian forces here now is not going to make Cinder's life very stress free, is it?" she said quietly. "With what you've told me about her time in Atlas, and if you really think she's capable of the worst acts...then might she even go off and try to- there are going to be numerous armed soldiers around Beacon! I wouldn't be surprised if a girl as fearful and self-centered as that gets the wrong idea and thinks we did it all for her."
"It will be a challenge for her, yes, but I'm certain she can overcome it." Ozpin said firmly. "I have faith in her, Glynda. I believe Cinder's ambitions to become a huntress are currently stronger than any desires for vengeance - or any amount of fear of Atlas. Salem might be able to change that, with personal intervention, but I don't believe she sees it as necessary to personally recruit Cinder yet. Left where and how she is now, Cinder wouldn't wish to throw away her place here, not even for revenge - else she would have gone after the Schnee girl in a much more violent way than an exploding cake," he added, with a smile. "No, Cinder Aryle is a very smart, clever young woman, when she puts her mind to it. And she's made much progress in the area of self control and introspection. She's learned so much."
"I would say that it's her teammates who are doing the bulk of the job of holding her in check," Glynda remarked.
"Her team has been very good for her, it's true. They're the kind of support and healthy companionship she needs, after a lifetime deprived of positive relations with children her own age. But the most important changes of all can only ever come from within."
"So it is just you trying to keep the girl from going down the wrong path in life?" Glynda asked.
"I assure you, I've absolutely no interest in taking advantage of one of my own students."
"I wasn't referring to that," Glynda said delicately. "I had almost thought that maybe you'd seen in her the possibility of becoming the next Fall Maiden...but that would be ridiculous of you."
"Quite ridiculous," Ozpin agreed. "No, I don't see Miss Aryle as being capable of becoming the next Fall. Not yet, that is. In a few years, if she's still with us, then perhaps...but for all her skills with a blade, all her determination to be a huntress, what she isn't is ready. For that level of responsibility, for that kind of power. Her soul is as turbulent as the ocean's waves, and she still has a long way to go to find any kind of true inner peace. Not to mention, for all her progress, she has yet to internalize any real sense of altruism, compassion or empathy; her choice to become a huntress was selfish - understandably so, for a child in her position! But it still was done to escape an abusive family, as opposed to out of any real desire to protect the kingdoms and save innocent lives. It was, most simply, that: an escape. The views she has and the ideals she holds in no way truly include what a huntress is meant to stand for. All she has is fear. Fear of returning to Atlas, fear of failure...and fear of losing all the pleasures and joys she's found out in this great big world she has only just emerged out into. Becoming a huntress is a means to an end - the end being freedom, pleasure, and a sense of direction, purpose, and control over her life. A way to nurse her damaged self esteem, which has spent a lifetime being battered at and reduced to nothing; the girl herself has been told she's nothing, all her life. She seeks to prove that statement false, by becoming something worthwhile. But the thing itself...it means nothing to her. Perhaps, in time, she will realize...but for right now, she's a long way off from that."
"Then who do you believe is ready?" Glynda inquired.
"Out of anyone in my school, I believe Pyrrha Nikos is the closest to being so."
"You're prepared to bring her in on all of this, then? She'll be told everything - about Salem?"
"I believe she's ready for that, as well," Ozpin nodded. "And it might even be necessary to tell her team, soon after."
"Do you think that their team is close to being ready as a whole? I don't want to see a redo of Team STRQ - or KIWI."
"Believe me, neither do I. They'll be going on their first missions soon; we'll see how they perform, and make a judgement after the Vytal Festival at the end of the year."
"I suppose that will have to do," Glynda said, turning away from the window. "Salem won't wait for us - and neither will Kari."
In a warehouse in the industrial district of Vale, gunfire and explosions rocked the building. Lights flashed from the high windows.
Blue energy particles and a dark shape rushed up and down the aisles, weaving between bodies and causing blood to spurt and splatter as it passed people.
In a matter of seconds, it all fell silent - and bodies fell.
Kari Silvers flicked her twelve foot long sword - the Persuasion, she had named it long ago - and the man presently skewered on its end was sent flying into a wall.
She advanced on him, her face a stony mask.
"H-hey, listen, I don't know what you're looking for, but it's not-" he began.
She thrust her blade forth from a distance, piercing his shoulder and pinning him to the wall. He screamed. "Where are they?" Kari asked simply.
"Agh- I really don't-"
"Woah, woah, woah - take it easy there, lady! That's my best man you've made into a kebab there!" came a new voice. A figure strolled out of the dark with his hands raised - one was holding a cane. A long coat fluttered, and his bowler hat was askew. A petite young woman with two-toned hair and different color eyes stood beside him, an umbrella gripped before herself. The man with the cane flourished a hand, pointing to the woman beside him. "Of course, this is my best woman, so you're sort of losing a bit of impact with who you targeted..."
"Is that so?" Kari turned her head, and she smiled slightly. She pulled her blade free and gave it an absent swipe, decapitating the injured man, and turned to face the new arrivals. "My mistake." She took a step forward, setting her gaze on the small woman with the pink umbrella.
"Ah, no, no - hey, let's not...lose our heads now!" the man said swiftly, putting himself between the two women and pointing his cane at Kari. "Why don't we...talk this whole thing out. I'm sure this is all just some big misunderstanding-"
"There's no misunderstanding. Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan - I came here for the two of you."
"Well," Torchwick began delicately, gazing around himself. He swept an arm at the area, littered with corpses. "I'm deeply flattered, sweetheart, but you really didn't have to go and do all this...just to get my attention. A knock at the door and a polite request would have made a way better first impression."
Kari gazed at him, unblinking.
"Ehehe..." Torchwick chuckled nervously, bringing his cane to rest in front of him, both hands clutching the handle. "You're going to kill us, aren't you?" He sighed. "Okay, who sent you? I've pissed off quite a lot of people recently, but I can't recall doing so to anybody with a lady on call with your level of...effectiveness. I'm a smart enough guy to know how to stay on my own level, but apparently I strayed a bit too far out." He shrugged. "But you know, if I have to die tonight, I suppose dying on the end of the blade of a woman like you is as good a way to go as I could hope for...truly impressive, all of this now. What was that - according to my watch here - ten seconds? And you had this whole place cleared out!"
"You're right: I'm operating on a level far above yours," Kari stated casually. "But I have a need for someone on your level while I'm operating here in Vale."
"I see, I see - so you want to request my services, eh? Well, let me tell yah, after what you just did here, it's going to have to be one hell of a persuasive argument to get me to agree to help you out with whatever it is you're-"
Kari flashed her sword up, the tip resting beneath Torchwick's chin from a distance of a dozen feet. "How's this?"
Torchwick gazed down the blade's length, wide eyed. "You know, that is one hell of a reach you've got with this thing! But could I ask, how do you manage it when you want to sit down anywhere? I mean, what do you do with it? Do yah just- son of a bitch!"
Kari flexed her wrist, and the tip sliced sharply across Torchwick's jaw. "I'm here for your talents as a crime boss, not as a comedian; I don't need to listen to you blather on."
Torchwick nodded frantically, slapping a hand to his bleeding face. "Excellent point, my darling - my bad. All my bad. So, listen, do you have a name?"
"It's Kari."
"Great name! Simple, easy to remember. Now then, would you mind explaining to me just what you need me for?"
Kari lowered Persuasion, and strode forward with purposeful strides. She reached Torchwick and shoved him aside, staring down at the small woman with the umbrella. "What I want...is for you two to do everything I tell you to - and you might be allowed to live after I'm done with you," she said, slow and clear.
"Soooo, this isn't a, 'I'm getting payed for my work' kind of arrangement, huh?" Torchwick said slowly.
"No."
"Damn. And we're still not at the part where you actually say what it is we're going to be doing..."
"Bring whatever men you have left to me, and I'll explain it to everyone at the same time," Kari said flatly. "I hate repeating myself."
"Gotcha. Just let me make some calls!"